Metallic cap



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' A. W. MINER METALLI C CAP Filed April 5, 1924 INVENTOR A W /7//Vf?.

A TTORNE Y7 Patented Mar. 31, 1925.

UNITED- ST T S;

PATENT ori ice;

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Application filedApril 3, 1924. SerialNo. 703,839. I

To all whom it may concern lie it known that I, Anson "W. Minna, a citizen of the United States, residing at lVaterbu-ry, county of New Haven, State of Connecticut, have invented a certain new and useful IHTIPYQVQHJQIH; in Metallic Caps, oi which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

hilly invention relates tomctallic'caps and has special reference to caps for closing the ends of glass tubes and similar articles.

The object, of the invention isto provide a cap. oi. the character indicated of simple and cheap construction, which is adapted to be easily applied to the end of a glass tube or similar article having asmooth outer surface, and which when applied is firmly held by frictional contact. One of its principal objects is to provide a cap which will tit; tubes of somewhat vary-ingsizes.

.Manufacturers of glass tubing frequently have short lengths left over that have heretofore gone to waste. One advantage of caps constructed in accordance with my in veution is thatthese short lengths of tubing may be utilized in forming tubular ta r s ea t o b ush holders, hichv is accomplished by merely cutting off the tubeto the desired length and placing the caps on the ends thereof.

The following is a description of a pre 't'errcd embodiment of my invention, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a side. elevation partly in section of my improved cap shown applied to the end of a tubular article;

2 is a plan view of the same;

Fig. 3 is a similar view but showing the parts of the cap in their normal position, an article about to be inserted of somewhat larger diameter than that of Fig. 2 being indicated by broken lines;

F 4, 5 and 6 are views in perspective illustrating dillerent steps in the manufacture of the cap; and

Fig. 7 is a view in perspective of the completed cap.

.ln forming my improved cap as illustrated in the drawings, a sheet of resilient ductile material such as brass is subjected to the action of dies so as to form the cupshaped blank illustrated in Fig. 4, having a bottom 2, a cylindrical wall or flange 4 projecting upwardly therefrom, and an outwardly projecting flange 6 on its upper end The flange (5 is trimmed oil as illus trated in Fig. 5, and the cup thus formed is then subjected to cutting dies which form angularly spaced and preferably diametrically opposed slots i'iorming opposed and circumtterentially extending wings, such asthe slots 8, each at which has a horizontal. portioirarranged in proximity to the bottom of the cup and, where inverted F-vshaped slots are used, has its vertical portion opening out throi'igh the upper edgeo'l the flange 4. The vertical portion of each slot 8' preferably has the lower portion 10. of its walls arranged vertically andparallelr The upper portions 12 of its walls are rounded over or inclined up *ardly and outwardly to the upper edge of the blank, each slot 8 thus forming opposed wings 14. The blank is then subjected to the action of forming or bending dies which bend the wings 14 inwardly as illustrated in' Fig. 7 on vertical lines substantial alinem nt with the ends he horizont p t ons of th o s and with the axis of said cap, which operation completes the formation of the cap; These operat ons where the slots are spaced by 180 can all be performed automat cally on.

single eyleting machine pr: *ided with suitable die-s, punches and plungers.

In Figs. 1 and 2 the cap thus formed with i inverted Tshaped slots is shown applied to the end of a glass tube or other tubular article 16. In applying that cap to the end of the tube, the inclined or rounded edge portions 12 of the inwardly extending wings 14 ride over the end of the tube causing the portions of the cylindrical wall 4 adjacent the wings to move outwardly so as to permit the cap to be forced down over the end of the tube, which at the same time causes the portions of the cylindrical wall between the two pairs of wings to be drawn inwardly toward the tube, as indicated in Fig. 2. Thus when the cap is applied to a tube of the size shown it is firmly held thereon by the engagement of the ends of the wings with the tube, and is held from tipping or wabbling movement by the engagement with; the tube of the portions of the flange 4 between the two pairs of wings. The inclined. or rounded corners 12 of the wings and the resiliency of the construction permits one varying considerably in diameter. The vertical edge portions 10 of the free ends of the wingsinsure a firm grip for a considerable distance, and also tend to center the cap on the article and prevent it from wabbling.

In embodying my invention I prefer to use slots which extend to the upper edge of the flange (3 so as to be open at one end and more particularly I prefer to use inverted T-shaped slots which so extend as shown since with such slots the above described yielding and drawing action of the flange, when the cap is in use, is attained, and the gripping action is not due to the yielding of the wing portions only.

As will be evident to those skilled in the art, my invention permits of various modifications without departing from the spirit thereof or the scope of the appended claims.

lVhat I claim is:

1. A cap for the end of an article, made from a sheet of resilient material, and hav ing a bottom wall, and a flange projecting upwardly therefrom having angularly spaced slotted portions, each forming a plurality of spring wings extending circumferentially in opposite directions, said wings being bent inwardly toward the center of the cap along a line substantially parallel to the axis of said cap and having their upper edges inclined upwardly toward the edge of said flange and outwardly.

2. A cap for the end of an article, made from a sheet of resilient material, and having a bottom wall and a flange projecting upwardly therefrom having a slotted portion providing a spring wing extending circumferentially and having the upper end portion of the edge of its free end inclined upwardly toward the edge of said flange and outwardly, said wing being bent inwardly toward the center of the cap along a line substantially parallel to the axis of said cap.

3. A cap for the end of an article, made from a sheet of resilient material, and having a bottom wall and a flange projecting upwardly therefrom having an inverted T- shaped slot extending to the top of said flange and providing spring wings extending circumferentially and arranged opposite each other, said wings being bent inwardly toward the center of the cap along a line substantially parallel to the axis of said cap.

4. A cap for the end of an article, made from a sheet of resilient material, and having a bottom wall, and a flange projecting upwardly therefrom having a slotted portion providing wings extending circumferentially and arranged opposite each other and having the upper portions of the edges of their free ends inclined upwardly and outwardly from each other and having the lower portion of said edges arranged substantially vertical, said wings being bent inwardly toward the center of the cap.

5. A cap for the end of an article, made from a sheet of resilient material, and having a bottom wall, and a flange projecting upwardly therefrom having a plurality of inverted T-shaped slots each forming a plurality of wings extending circumferentially, and having the lower portions of the adj acent edges of their free ends arranged vertically and the upper portions of said edges inclined upwardly and outwardly to the upper edges of said flange, said wings being bent inwardly toward the center of the cap.

ANSON WV. MINER. 

